Mexico! Feliz Navidad and all that Good Stuff

Well, after Thanksgiving, we always get ready for our trip to Mexico. It's fun to know that the holidays are coming and a vacation is too!

This year we invited along another couple with us, our friends and wedding attendants, Paul and Bridget. It was nice to be able to get away and have fun with them too.

But before we went, 11/20, we had an Engagement Celebration! It was alot of fun to get together with friends and family. It was the official kickoff to planning and sharing our lives as an engaged couple.

Michael's birthday is on the 1st of December, so it is nice to be able to get away to celebrate that too! I took some cake up to Michael's station and had a little celebration.

We stayed at one of our favorite places, Adventura Spa Palace. It is about 1 hour South of Cancun. It is so great going during the Christmas time, they have a big tree in both of their lobbys and they have Christmas music playing. The water was warn and the weather was beautiful! It was a bit overcast the first day,but by the 2nd day, was sunny and beautiful! 87' during the day and in the 70's during the night. Last year, it was cooler in the evening.

We took full advantage of the all inclusive. I can honestly say, they made the BEST Margaritas and Mojitos. Michael continued to enjoy the favorite drink from last year, the Dirty Monkey and Planters Punch. Noting is better than sitting by the beach and pool, having a waiter come and bring you drinks and snacks all day long. There is also a fresh juice bar in the hydrotherapy area where Michael and I fell asleep after doing the hot tub and cold plunge. My favorite part was when we go back to the room when the pool closes to get ready and all dressed up for dinner. The dinners are great, and we had so much great food. The steakhouse was probably Michael and Paul's favorite, they were able to order 2 filet mignon and I am pretty sure that they were in Heaven. I would not recommend having dinner and 5 bottles of Champagne. I am pretty sure that we all had headaches the next day.

They definately had the best ice cream in the WORLD! It was so yummy! This was the Prime Rib and Lamb night. I was in heaven.

After dinner, we headed back to the nightly shows. One night entertainment was a circus and another fire dancers on the beach. Michael even was brought up on stage and won us a bottle of Champagne! Room Service anyone? Did I mention that they had room service all night long? I heard the sliders were great!

Our resort gives us free activities and tours, so we took advantage of the Tulum tour (we have already gone to Coba and Chichen Itza. It was amazing, but it would have been a little nicer to be able have a longer tour.

Bridget really had fun in the waves at Tulum!

Needless to say, Mexico was great! We were sad to come back, but cant wait to see the boys and get to jump right into the holiday season!

Pancho, the Donkey. He was so cute, we couldnt resist getting a pitcure with him!

Disneyland and Universal Studios

First, I have to say, I was like a little girl when we woke up to go to Disneyland! I couldn't wait! The last time I had been there I was in Kindergarten and there were a ton of new things since then. I remembered that the newest attraction was Space Mountain. I'm not that old, right!?! Anyway, we were excited to be kids together.

For anyone who doesn't know, I get extremely sea, air and motion sick. This has been a really hard thing for Michael to get used to. Lucky for us, I brought my Vomosin (Mexican Dramamine) with me, so I could go on all the rides I wanted to.

We started in the Disneyland Adventures Theme park. It was a blast! We went ahead and started the day off with the Tower of Terror, nothing like starting the day off with the scariest ride. We rode a few rides, and headed over to Disneyland! We were so excited. Did you know that they pump the smell of popcorn in the entrance? Yep, they do. Indiana Jones, Thunder Mountain, the Haunted Mansion (I would recommend that you skip it if you go there for Christmas time, was pretty terrible), the Matterhorn, Space Mountain and Star Tours...it was right after Star Tours that we realized something terrible. Yep, I didn't have my phone. "Michael, call mine", I asked. "I dont know where my phone is...". Coincidence? I don't think so. So, there went all of our connections to the outside world, email, phone, calendars, FACEBOOK! So, our day ended going to the Lost and Found at Disneyland to file our phones missing. I still think it is a conspiracy, Michael really wants an iPhone.

The next day, after a scary night at the hotel, we headed out to Universal Studios. I love the tour of the studios. I got to meet Matt Daemon and Michael met the Hulk, it really made his day.

We saw Jaws, rode on the Mummy Ride, the Jurassic Park ride, they were great!

Michael met the Hulk. I know he is a big fan. He seemed a little upset at the request of 'gimme knuckles', but was a good sport.

That night after we left, we went sightseeing on Hollywood. The street performers were great and looking at all of the famous actors and actresses at Grauman's Chinese Theater. Dorris Day's feet were so tiny! My all time favorite was Roy Rodgers and Trigger.

Justin Timberlake was not too warm and fuzzy, but handsome all the same!

This street performer was AWESOME! I said it was for the boys, but secretly, Michael wanted a picture with him, so I gave in.

Well, that was our trip to Los Angeles. It was really nice to be able to get away with Mike and if you ask me, it was a good thing that we lost our phones. We had a chance to reconnect, enjoy eachother and not worry about the ouside world. We both love being engaged and are so glad that we are blessed to be able to go on vacations and trips together, having time to make new memories and continue to learn about 'us' as a couple.

Catching up...

Well, It has been a month since our last posting. What a busy month it has been...

Shortly after our last Blog in November, while in Los Angeles, we lost our phones and ALL OF OUR DISNEYLAND PICTURES!!! We were really sad, but will remember it with all of our 'scrapbook' memorabilia.

Los Angeles was great! Mike had a union confrence in Los Angeles and I was lucky enough to 'tag along'. We were excited to be able to extend our trip to add a few days and find our own lodging. We were hoping for something close to both Disneyland and Universal Studios. I looked and looked, searching on Expedia and found a great deal on a room at the Holiday Inn Express! I was so excited, it was one of the few hotels that didnt charge extra for parking and looked like it was 'smack dab' in the middle of the two! Our internet connection was a bit slow and kept kicking us off, so, I booked ASAP when it finally let me through.

We Checked out of our hotel in LA for the conference and headed to our new hotel. It was still early enough, so we headed out and did some sightseeing before heading to our hotel. I called the Holiday Inn Express to confirm our reservation and they didnt have my name in their system. I decided to check the address, and realized it was a different location...'Wierd', I thought. We entered the address into our GPS and headed to the hotel. We pull up to "HOLLYWOOD Inn Express". "OH NO!!!! DID I CLICK ON THE WRONG HOTEL???" Sure enough, I did. Ugh...I hope this is going to be okay...

So...we check in. The lobby is so small and we walk over to the window. I know its bad when there is bullet proof glass and a gas station style pass through for our IDs. Ugh...I feel a nightmare coming on.

"OK, Its going to be OK," Michael and I reassure ourselves. Lets just get the key and check in. We walk around wondering where room #6 is and decide to try the room that has no number on it, but appears to make sense that it would be there. Sure enough, it works and we are in our room. "HOME SWEET HOME".

We walk into the smell of stale cigarettes and cleanser. "It'll be okay," Michael assures me, "we just need to sleep here anyways, we get to go to DisneyLand tomorrow, remember? We'll be gone all day."

"Ok, you're right," I agree. As I set my bag down on the bed, I notice that there are strange splatters all over the wall and start to cringe. Michael is exploring and I hear him shriek. "WHAT?!?!", I yell. Michael tells me to stay out of the bathroom. I run to him. There he is, standing in the small room, half laughing, half shrieking, pointing at the ceiling and saying "That's not bad, right?". It takes me a second to understand what he is pointing at. The light fixture is hanging from the ceiling, no cover. He continues to point, at the mold on the ceiling and walls. "UGH!", I didn't even know what to do. I ran out of the bathroom only to find a terrible stain on the floor. Blood? I hope not, but wouldn't be surprised. I go back to my suitcase and started to cry. I decided to trust Michael. I put a chair in front of the door just in case though, especially since it didn't have a deadbolt.

That night, we had a hard time falling asleep. THIS WAS NOT THE MARRIOT that we just came from. In the middle of the night, we heard the neighbors being very loud and Michael got up and looked out the window. Apparently, there was a transvestite prostitution ring running out of the next door neighbor's room. All night for the next few nights, it went on and on. We would hear a noise and run to the window, trying to catch a glimpse. There were times, that were so funny that I couldnt stop laughing. What a terrible place I had set us up with. We laughed about how horrible it was, especially since so much of our evening entertainment was running to peek out the window to see what was going on next door! I'm not so good at being sneaky at looking out the window, espcially since the laughing I am pretty sure was heard through our hollow door!

*To all our friends, If you didn't get the hint, please do not stay at the Hollywood Inn Express in Los Angeles on Sunset Blvd*

Halloween and Such

Well, it has been awhile since our last entry, but it has been eventful. We had a great weekend of helping my mom and dad move into their new condo and getting them settled. We enjoyed having a fun Halloween with our little monsters, they were actually a Firefighter and Fighter pilot. The best part was taking them house to house and laughing when they rang the doorbell and stood and stared at the person holding the bowl of candy. The best line? "I love your house". It has been fun this year as they actually understand what Halloween is for, CANDY!!

Not much new with planning our wedding. I decided that we are going to change the bridesmaid dresses. After secretly questioning my decision, I realized that maybe we could go with a different one. So, we have been looking online, looking for the perfect dress. Of course, we have some time still and I will be gathering my troops soon to have another day of dress shopping. Yeah! I was a little bummed that it was all over, this way too, my mom will be able to help pick out the dresses, as she wasn't able to come with my to get my dress. I have no doubt that we will find something. Our colors are Muted Gold and antique Pink, so both would be really pretty in a dress. I am loving '50's style and am really excited to have a little fun with it!

I surprised Michael for a special date on the 30th! We got to go to the Rascall Flatts concert, I think I metioned it earlier. It was great, actually hearing our song performed live was great, we were so close! The only problem was that it was sooo cold walking from our parking lot and we had to park so far away! Note to self...pay for VIP parking if you plan on going to dinner and getting there right before the concert starts! Teresa time, you know.

Mike and I are going to be in LA for a week while he is at his conference. Cant wait! We are looking forward to going to Disney Land and Universal Studios. It will be kind of romantic in a way, doing things that we did as kids and being able to go on rides and play together. Hopefully my "Mexican Dramamine" will work to help me on the rides!!!

Well. Searching for a venue for an engagement party looks like it will be harder than I thought. There are so many. It is hard to know what to do. I will keep updating it as I go. Planning has been giong good though and will likely be taking a break for a minute while we help our parents move and celebrate holidays with the boys. Halloween should be fun, cant wait to take the boys trick-or-treating!

How is the planning you ask?

Mike is so cute and continues to want to be involved more than I ever guessed. Just the other day he was talking about the reception. He thinks it would be great to incorporate his Hispanic culture into it. Great! Things to look for? A pinata, skulls, and a mariachi band. Hmmmm. Not quite the look I thought we were going for but I think I will surprise everyone with my great idea!

Yesterday I surprised Michael with tickets to see Rascal Flatts. I am so excited, he is too. Hopefully they will play our favorite song tonight. Guess who opens? Yep, Hootie.

Dress Shopping and Bridesmaids...

Well...We have done so much this last week.

Dress shopping...Check.

Yep, I got my dress. I went with my sister Caroline and friend and bridesmaid Bridget. My mom was supposed to come too, but they are selling their house and it was going to be too hard for her to pack and get ready just to have a fun girls day. I was a little bummed, but totally understood. We decided to make it a whole day, and so Bridget, Caroline, B's sister (10 years old) and I headed up to Bellevue to look at dresses. Let me clairify that I had no intention in finding a dress that day!

So, after trying on 2 dresses, I knew the moment I tried the dress on! Was it just like the show? Say Yes to The Dress? Yep. But of course, I made sure that I tried a half a dozen more dresses before I even made Tawna ask me "Is this your dress?" It was fun. We all had a good laugh.

You know, it is what they say. You just know when you know. Kinda like picking a partner. You know when you know.

(The dress above is pretty close to what mine looks like. I love the 80s ruffle look)

And now...drum roll please...I would like to introduce my bridemaids!

Caroline, of course, my sister and best friend will be there by my side. She did after all introduce Michael and I.

Bridget. A close friend and BFF/CF (best friend forever couple friend). In the same 2nd/3rd split in Gig Harbor, grew up in the neighborhood next to us, went to the same private school, and high School. Wierd how people's paths cross, Im excited that we finally got to know eacchother what a journey!

Jennifer H. My dear friend who lives in Texas. Jennifer has been a great friend and has supported me both professionally and Spiritually. And has let me get my baby fix with her new little guy Landon. He is adorable, by the way!

Betty. A great person and friend who has been around since Mike and my second date! Betty and Shawn have been great supports for us through our relationship!

I am excited to be able to share this day with such great friends! It was important that we have people that have been supportive in our relationship to stand by us in our marriage. Thank you to my bridesmaids who have agreed to this comittment, I appreciate you all in my life! =)

Mike and I about to head out!

I had no idea what to expect, all I knew is that it included flying and water. Good thing Mike surprised me with Dramamine too!

The Full Story!

October 3, 2oo9
The day started as a lot of our Saturdays start. I was awake waiting for Michael to get off of work, excited to see him and get ready for a special date. After running some errands, we went home and started to get ready. I wasn’t quite sure what to pack, so I packed 3 dresses, way more than I needed, but at the same time, I really didn’t know that at the time. All I knew was that we “might or might not” be going somewhere fancy for something… ‘if we could get in…’.
We started our drive up to Seattle, excited to find out where we were going and at the same time, not wanting to know so that it wouldn’t ruin any surprise. Michael kept up the façade that he wasn’t quite sure where or what we were going to be doing and I was fine with that, just excited to do something with him for our 3 year anniversary and my birthday. Mike plugged the address into the GPS, surprised that he actually had an address, I became suspicious of the ‘lack of plans’. Excited, we started for Seattle.
At about 2pm, and circling the block maneuvering the one ways, we arrived at the Olympus Fairmont Hotel in Downtown Seattle. It was beautiful. We pulled into the Valet parking. Michael instructed me that this is what he was looking for. I assumed that we were going to have dinner here, but realized that I was wrong when the Bellman opened up our trunk and started taking out our luggage. I was so excited. Michael was so cute and seemed nervous, looking back, but at the time, I thought it was sweet that he kept saying ‘no’ when the bellman asked to take his luggage up to the room for us.
We checked into our room and Michael was searching all over the room for something. AS I explored our large room and played with the CD player, Michael said that he had to run downstairs to figure ‘something out’. Again, I didn’t think anything of it, he ‘didn’t have plans’ and was most likely trying to get something together for that night.
He rushed into the room about 15 minutes later and said “Hurry up, we have a car waiting for us in 30 minutes!” WOW. 30 minutes to get ready?!? It was lucky that he let me have an extra 30 minutes to get ready before heading up to Seattle earlier that day!
We got ready and after only 2 wardrobe changes, we were ready to head out on our date.
As we walked down to the Valet to get our taxi, the hotel insisted that we use the Town Car for a ‘special occasion’. I went along with it! Why not! If it means that we get to ride in that car? Besides, we were celebrating our 3 year anniversary in a couple days and my birthday next month! Michael told the driver that I could not know where we were going and after finagling the directions in a ‘TOP SECRET’ like manner, we got into the soft leather seats and were on our way. I was so excited. A few minutes into our ride to the secret destination, the driver was asked where he was going by his supervisor on his CB. “I cannot tell you…” he said. “Seriously. Where are you?” His annoyed supervisor asked. At that point, I didn’t want him to be in trouble for helping Michael out, so I offered to plug my ears and hum, to block out the destination that was being so well guarded. We all laughed and we thanked him for keeping it a secret. I hate to ruin secrets!
AS we passed South Lake Union, we went by restaurant after restaurant. I started wondering where we were going when we started making our way into the industrial area. Then we turned into a parking lot with a big red sign saying ‘Scenic Seaplane Tours”. We got out of the car and thanked the driver. I was excited and nervous! Flying and Water! The first thing I thought was ‘no Dramamine’. At almost that exact second, I was handed a Dramamine by a smiling Michael.
We headed down the ramp to the dock and a cute little building where we met the pilot and checked in. “We can take you early if you want?” the pilot Greg said to us.
“Sure,’’ we answered. “Can I just get 10 minutes or so? I just took a Dramamine.”
“No problem,” the pilot answered, “it’s a little bumpy out there today…”
As we headed to the plane, we stopped for a photo op and boarded the plane.
The plane take off was great, a little bumpy, but not bad…The initial ascending was a bit bumpy and I started to get a little sick. It’s just a 45 minute flight, I can do it…I just have to focus, I thought. I did pretty good, focusing on things in the horizon that didn’t move. Michael kept trying to talk to me, pointing out things that were cool or neat to see. I tried to look and talk a bit, but every time I moved, I felt more sick. The flight was getting bumpier and I was starting to feel sick. “I might be a little quiet,” I said to Mike, feeling bad that I was ruining his flight. He had his arm around me and was rubbing my arm and being just generally sweet. By the end of the flight, I had the bag to my face, apologizing for ringing his sweet plan. By the time that we landed, the pilot opened the doors and the fresh air made me feel much better! We landed outside a beautiful resort called Alder Brook Inn/Resort. (I didn’t realize until later that night that Michael’s plan had been to find a moment during our flight to propose).
We pulled up to the dock and got out. Feeling better, Michael asked the pilot to take some pictures for us. We took a picture at the end of the dock, then by the plane and then Michael asked to have another picture with the resort in the background. “By yourself?” I asked. Laughing because he was already standing there at the end of the dock ready for his picture. “No, with us” He said. As he said that, he took my hand and I realized that I had my sunglasses in my hand and turned around to put them on my purse sitting on the ground a few steps away. Apparently, when I did that Michael gave the pilot a wink preparing him for what was to come next.
I walked back to Michael, and he took my hands. “You know I really love you,” he said. “Yes,” I said. Then he asked, “Do you feel better?” ”Yes, a lot better…I’m sorry…,” I replied. At that moment, he got on one knee and put up a ring in his hands and asked, “Good enough to spend forever with me?”
I didn’t even realize what was happening. I was speechless. With my hands up to my mouth, starting to cry, I said “Yes.” It was not instant, I think that I was so shocked and so happy that it took me a second, I am sure it was only a second or two, but Michael assured me that it felt like minutes! Once I said yes, he turned to the pilot and gave a big thumbs up. Nothing crossed my mind, all I could see was Mikes happy face, and feel the love that I had for him. I honestly can say that I don’t think that I have ever been so happy- and had never seen Mike this happy either. I couldn't stop looking at the ring, it was beautiful! We said our”I love you’s” (lots of them) and for some reason, I kept saying “Thank you”.

We walked up to the restaurant, happy and excited about what just happened. Mike had really planned ahead and I was surprised to find that our dinner was ordered and we were in the restaurant before anyone else! We had the best table in the house! Champagne and oysters was our first round. They were wonderful! Next was Seafood- mussels, clams in this amazing sauce, I am sure that I never had such fresh and tasty shellfish. Crab cakes and Salmon were amazing too. The crab cakes had big chunks of crab and were delicious. We skipped dessert and headed out to explore the resort. I wanted to tell everyone! I even told a woman in the bathroom! When I came back, Michael had told the waitress and two ladies across from our table!
We ended up at the firepit with another few couples. Michael was so cute, and announced to everyone that he had an important announcement and told everyone about the recent engagement, just earlier that night. They were all excited and we loved playing up on the fact that the airplane at the end of the dock was ours! How often can you say that!?! Our pilot called and we headed back to the plane for our ride home.

The flight home was great, the wind was behind us and it was a smooth flight. We had a beautiful sunset and an amazing view of the full moon. Because the weather was so great, and I was not sick, we were able to fly over downtown Seattle. We took pictures, saw Qwest field, the Mariners were playing and it seemed like we flew directly over the Space needle! It was really amazing. We landed and called our ride to come pick us up.

We went to a night club called Triple Door and had a few drinks to celebrate and walked back to our hotel. When we got to the room, Michael had already had ice and chocolate strawberries sent to the room, waiting for us. We drank champagne, talked about the exciting night and laughed about my getting turbulence sick in the plane, how hard he had worked to plan everything just right and to throw me off track. We were exhausted and so excited, even though we were so tired, we were so excited, feeling like little kids at Christmas.

Week One

This week has been great! It seems like it was just yesterday that Michael asked me to marry him. It has been very exciting to share the news with everyone and I hope that this blog is the perfect way to include the people that are close with us in just that!

It has been all such a whirlwind, after telling our family and friends, we realized that everyone kept asking us about the date! Gheesh! It just happened, gimme a minute! But once the 5th person asked, I realized that we really had to 'get on this' and I may or may not have started to panic a little bit!

I am so excited and glad that Mike has been excited and happy to find out and plan things too, because there are a ton of venues, dates, and well...everything to research! I am so glad we can work together. So, needless to say, I called Hector, our wedding coordinator (that has been on standby since my sister's wedding). He pointed us in the right direction- Step #1: Find a venue #2:Meet with Hector.

So we are currently looking for venues. Who knew that there are so many that are in the area, but at the same time, are nothing like what I have in my head.



Top 3 things that have happened since Saturday, Oct 3...

1- Telling the boys that "daddy and Teresa are getting married". Ryler (3) was especially excited as he had been keeping the secret about the SPARKLE STORE for nearly a week and a half!

2- Being able to call each other 'Fiance' whenever we could

3- Being on Cloud 9, and having fun planning

Michael and I compiled a step by step of our engagement story that is so sweet and even though it does not even come close to being there, we wanted to be able to share it with our friends and family to give them a sneak peek in on that special day. Unfortunately, my computer isn't cooperating with me- so stand by...